Not in the profession of hunting!
In the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, Germany, a special exhibition titled "Stereotypes: Neanderthal Woman" aims to challenge the common perception of Neanderthals as primarily male hunters.
The exhibition presents four characters from different times and geographic regions of the Neanderthals, each aimed at challenging common clichés and showcasing the diversity of Neanderthal women's roles. However, specific individual names or personas are not detailed in the available sources.
The misconception of Neanderthals as predominantly male hunters has its roots in the early years of Neanderthal research, which was conducted mainly by men. The reconstruction of prehistoric gender roles was also written by men of their time, leading to a bias towards male-dominated roles in hunting and making.
Archaeology, being an object-based science, led early researchers to assume that robust bones and stone tools found with skeletons indicated a male Neanderthal who went hunting. If jewelry like an eagle's claw was found next to a skeleton, it was assumed to be a female Neanderthal.
However, new methods, such as paleogenetics and protein analyses, have been developed to distinguish between male and female Neanderthals. Protein chains, being larger molecules, make fragments of them easier to find than DNA from the cell nucleus. Women and men have different hormone balances and form different proteins, which can be used to reconstruct genders.
These new methods have led to some surprising findings. Approximately 600 Neanderthal skeletons are known, with most being attributed to male individuals due to socialization in the 20th century. However, regional differences in diet and daily stress can cause a non-robust skeleton to resemble a robust one, casting doubt on these assignments.
In Neanderthal society, everyone had to be able to do everything, including gathering, hunting, making tools, and tending fire. Gender roles and structures in archaeology were likely less dominant and more oriented towards socialization in the 1970s, reflecting a shift in the feminist idea that has influenced archaeological research, focusing on the diversity of roles in Neanderthal society.
The first Neanderthal find was mistakenly identified as a "pre-flood human" due to the biblical time period orientation of the era. The first remains of a Neanderthal were found in 1856 in the Neander Valley near Mettmann, but the first Neanderthal find was actually a woman discovered in Gibraltar in 1848.
The network Fem Arc is advocating for changes to increase the number of women in leadership positions at universities, hoping to ensure that future research is less biased and more representative of the diversity of human history. The "Stereotypes: Neanderthal Woman" exhibition at the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann is a step towards achieving this goal, providing a platform to challenge stereotypes and promote a more nuanced understanding of Neanderthal society.
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